Toolbox: Wrenchless Routers and Grinders

Changing bits takes the fun right out
of using a router, and it's all because
of the wrenches. Even if you manage to
avoid busting your knuckles, the whole
process takes too long. If you added up
all the time spent changing bits —
including finding the last guy to use the
router to ask where he left the wrenches
— and multiply it by your labor
cost…well, you get the picture.
To the rescue comes the Jacobs
PowerCollet, which takes just a few minutes
to swap for a standard collet, and
completely eliminates the need for
wrenches to change router bits (see
Figure 1). Instead, you just pull up on the
locking sleeve to open